of the Philological Society: "King Jeremiah, Jeremiah King,
Jerkin, Gherkin, Cucumber."_

"_Livre_ stands for 'book' as well as for 'pound,' because the accounts
of 'pounds' are kept in 'books.'"

It was the same boy who, being asked for the meaning of _cordon bleu_,
answered "a teetotaler."

* * * * *

A young Briton, having to derive the French word _tropique_,
wrote:

"This word comes from _trop_ (too much), and _ique_ (from Latin _hic_
which means _here_), with the word _heat_ understood, that is to say:
_Tropique_, it is too hot here."

* * * * *

Another boy, with a great deal of imagination and power of deduction,
having to give the derivation of the French word _cheval_, wrote the
following essay:

"_Cheval_ comes from the Latin _equus_. The letter _u_ was written _v_,
which gave

_equus_ = _eqvus_ = quevus.

"This word became _quevalus_, which finally gave _cheval_."

We might exclaim with d'Aceilly:

"_Cheval_ vient d'_equus_, sans doute;
Mais il faut convenir aussi
Qu'a venir de la jusqu'ici,
Il a bien change sur la route."[9]

[9] "_'Cheval' comes from 'equus' no doubt; but it must be
confessed that, to come to us in that state, it has sadly altered
on the way._"

* * * * *

This boy's method is, after all, a return to the old methods. If we
consult Menage's Etymological Dictionary, we see that he easily derives
_rat_ from _mus_, and _haricot_ from _faba_, to take only two instances
of the method.

"The Latin _mus_," he says, "became _muratus_, and then _ratus_, which
gave us _rat_."

He deals no less successfully with _haricot_, viz:

"The Latin _faba_ became by corruption _fabaricus_, which altered into
_fabaricotus_, and finally into _aricotus_, which gave us _haricot_."

After this we may appreciate Voltaire's remark that "philologists take
no account of vowels, and very little notice of consonants."

Nor do boys.

* * * * *

If the answers given by candidates at examinations are often
remarkable, the questions asked by the examiners are often more
wonderful still. Here are a few which have been seriously asked,
and--_proh pudor!_--published:

"Define, with reference to passages in the _Lettres Provinciales_,
'grace suffisante,' 'grace efficace,' 'grace actuelle,